Ordinance to amend THE EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT, 1897

In the light of current pandemic spread in India and recent assaults on doctors and health workers in different states, the Union Government has today approved the promulgation of an ordinance to amend the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 for protecting health care workers including doctors from attacks by miscreants and to provide strict punishments to culprits. This was informed today in a press conference by Mr. Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting.

It is considered as a big move by the government to protect health professionals and workers especially engaged in COVID19 detection, monitoring, and treatment across the country. As per the new amendment, attacks on doctors including all health care workers will be treated as cognizable and nonbailable offense and will be liable to 6 to 7 years of Jail terms and/or Rupees 5 lakhs fine or both. This move is seen as a firm commitment by the union government to adopt zero tolerance on increasing attacks on doctors and health workers.

Under the ordinance, the government has provisioned to impose a double penalty on assailants responsible for damaging properties of doctors and health workers including their clinics and private properties. The ordinance has further provisioned for the compensation for injury to health care professionals.  

Highlights of the current Epidemic Disease Act 1897

• This act is one of the shortest acts in India
• Originally the act was passed to deal with the epidemic situation in the then Bombay state due to ‘Bubonic plague’ first noticed in September 1896 in Mandvi, that killed over thousands of people in Bombay
• Special powers were conferred upon the local authorities to implement measures for the control of plague
• Section 3 of the act has provisioned six months of imprisonment or Rupees one thousand of fine or both to the person who disobeys this act
• Historian David Arnold had called the act as one of the most draconian pieces of sanitary legislation ever adopted in colonial India
• The act is mostly oriented towards people travel by ships and there is no provision on air travel, which were negligible at that time
• Much emphasis is given to measures like Isolation and Quarantine, but this act is silent on scientific methods of detection, surveillance, public health awareness, recovery plan, vaccination, etc.
• Although there is mention of ‘Dangerous Epidemic Disease ‘in the act but it doesn’t provide any definition of epidemic disease or particularly ‘Dangerous Epidemic Disease’
• The act is also silent on the outbreak of pandemic in India like COVID-1
• The act is also silent on the role of the appropriate authority, who will be deciding on the dangerous epidemics disease and criteria to define it
• Much emphasis is given in this act on the power of the government but the act is silent on the rights of citizens

{Reference- THE EPIDEMIC DISEASES ACT, 1897 & Pandya SK. Guidelines for stem cell science and clinical translation. Indian J Med Ethics. 2016 Jul-Sep:1(3) NS:160-1.å